Just when you thought the Daily Mail couldn't get any worse, comes the story of the year, nay, the decade from every magistrate judge and Little Englander's favourite rag. Apparently Facebook causes cancer. Yup, according to new "research" printed in the Biologist, the journal of the Institute of Biology, increased isolation from social contact, as perpetuated by social networking sites and our modern day obsession with online communications could "upset immune responses, hormone levels and the function of arteries", the Mail reports.

The story will sit perfectly with other Mail classic scaremongering articles such as "Menopause drug once thought safer than HRT 'could raise risk of breast cancer relapse'", and "Drinking just one glass of wine a day can INCREASE risk of cancer by 168 per cent, finds shock new study". Although, to be fair, the comments from loyal Mail readers have been a mixed bag, with a fair few dismissing the news as "tosh", "twaddle", "bunkum" and balderdash.

One outraged reader however, exploded, "I'm not at all shocked by this!"
"Under "Brown's Britain", street crime has soared and so it's no surprise that kids would choose to stay at home and use Facebook rather than go out and get stabbed," he wrote. "This is what happens when our so-called government decide to give every kid a computer."

To be honest, the less Sneak says about this story the better, not wanting to spread this kind of hokum any further around the world wide web. One question remains though, given that this story was first reported by the Mail; surely gypsies cause cancer? or Lady Di's driver? Or something...

19 Feb 2009